1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns secure printing wherein an image can be generated only by an intended image output device in the presence of an intended recipient. In particular, the invention concerns encryption of print data in such a manner that the data can only be decrypted using information supplied both by the intended image output device and by the intended recipient.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a networked office environment, a print job generated by a computer at one location in the network can be printed by an image output device at another location. If the print job includes confidential or otherwise sensitive information, concerns arise about unauthorized interception of the print job at one of several points in the network. In particular, the print job can be intercepted by a device on the network such as a computer system running simple network snooping tools.
In addition, concerns also arise about unauthorized viewing of the printed output. The printed document may be viewed by any person who happens to be near the image output device before the intended recipient arrives to collect the document.
Similar issues arise with a facsimile transmission. The transmission can be intercepted, and any person who arrives at a destination facsimile machine before the intended recipient can view the facsimile document.